Socioeconomic Value of Wetlands

Gerald J. Kauffman, Andrew R. Homsey University of Delaware Water Resources Center Newark, Del. Total economic value of wetland ecosystems (Emerton and Bos 2004)  “the kidneys of the landscape” and “biological supermarkets” (Barbier, Acreman, and Knowler 1997).  Wetlands cover 6% of the Earth, home to 40% of world’s plant species, 12% of animal species (Brander & Schuyt 2004).  Coastal marshes provide a commercial/recreational fishery economy worth billions of dollars. (NWCA, EPA 2016).  Wetlands cover 5% of lower 48 states, habitat for 1/3 of threatened/endangered species, 31% of plant species (EPA 2006). Estimates of economic value of wetlands

Wetland Value Source Wetland Function ($) Costanza et al. Global value of wetlands $15 trillion 1997 Boutwell and Hurricane protection in $23 billion/yr Westra 2015 US Brander and 8.5 million acres world‐ $3.4 billion/yr Schuyt 2010 wide Superstorm Sandy damage Narayan et al. 2017 $625 million protection 20% of Delaware are covered by wetlands

Inland Delaware Chesapeake Bays/ Piedmont Total Ecosystem Estuary Bay Atlantic (ac) (ac) (ac) (ac) Ocean (ac) Freshwater 4.1% 9.3% 18.1% 10.6% 11.8% wetlands Saltwater 0.8% 9.9% 0.1% 2.5% 4.7% wetlands Open 0.5% 2.2% 0.4% 9.8% 3.2% freshwater Delaware Population

Projected State/county Pop. 2000 Pop. 2010 Pop. 2030 New Castle 500,265 538,479 589,267 Kent 126,697 162,310 192,853 Sussex 156,638 197,145 272,511

Delaware 783,600 897,934 1,054,631

Delaware Wetlands Annual Economic Activity

 Water Quality $474 million  Flood Control $66 million  Parks/Open Space $411 million  Fish/Wildlife $386 million  Recreation $124 million  Forested Wetlands $91 million  Nonuse Value $50 million Total >$1 billion

Water Quality

Water Treatment: Industrial Economics Inc. (2011), 1.2% decrease (3,132 ac) in wetlands in Delaware (2007 to 2022), increased water treatment costs $9.67 million ($770,000/yr).

Wastewater Treatment: Greeley-Polhemus Group (1993), Delaware Estuary supported wetlands wastewater treatment of $638 million. Wetlands in Delaware cover 120,000 ac (26% of Delaware Estuary wetlands), then wastewater value in Delaware was $166 million.

Wastewater Assimilation: DeLorme and Wood (1976), 463,000 acres wetlands in Delaware Estuary capacity to treat 1.6 million lb waste/day. At $2.00/lb BOD removal, Estuary wetlands had replacement value of $1.18 billion/yr ($255/acre). Annual wetland replacement value wastewater assimilation in Delaware is $307 million. Flood Control

Stormwater Detention: Braden and Johnston (2004), stormwater detention provides flood/water quality protection services 2% to 5% of property value in floodplain. If 211,840 acres (17%) of Delaware’s land mass is in the 100-year floodplain covered mostly by wetlands with value of floodplain land $10,000/acre, then total value of floodplain land in Delaware is $2.1 billion. At 2%-5%, stormwater detention from floodplains/wetlands provides $42 to $105 million in economic benefits in Delaware.

Flood Protection: “Scientific Reports”, coastal marshes/wetlands in 12 mid-Atlantic states (i.e. Delaware) prevented $625 million in flood damages during Superstorm Sandy in October 2012 (Narayan et al. 2017). Delaware, (1/5 is wetlands, coastal marshes reduced flood damages during Sandy by 10% ($24 million. Damages: Damages: % Difference Wetlands Difference State Wetlands Lost (total Present ($) ($) damages) ($) Connecticut 2,180,600,000 2,181,000,000 400,000 0.02 Delaware 228,100,000 251,900,000 23,800,000 10.43 Massachusetts 1,452,300,000 1,458,600,000 6,300,000 0.43 Maryland 15,500,000 20,000,000 4,500,000 29.03 Maine 17,600,000 17,603,000 3,000 0.02 North Carolina 9,400,000 8,800,000 −615,000 −6.47 New Hampshire 29,600,000 30,500,000 900,000 3.04 New Jersey 14,014,600,000 14,443,300,000 428,700,000 3.06 New York 32,314,600,000 32,452,800,000 138,200,000 0.43 Pennsylvania 174,400,000 188,100,000 13,600,000 7.86 Rhode Island 72,100,000 72,400,000 300,000 0.42 Virginia 195,400,000 205,300,000 9,900,000 5.07

Parks/Open Space

State Parks: Delaware state parks are covered in large part by tidal and freshwater wetlands that provide recreational and wildlife habitat benefits. Rockport Analytics (2017) reported that the economic impact of the Delaware State Park System was $390 million/yr in 2017-2017 from spending by 1.6 million visitors.

National Wildlife Refuge: The Bombay Hook and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) on the Delaware Bay marshes contributed over $21 million to the Delaware economy from 390,000 annual visitors and supported over 200 jobs with $6 million in wages. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reported that the 16,000-acre Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware was the 4th most visited refuge in the nation with nearly 271,000 recreational visits in 2006 (Carver and Caudill 2007). The Bombay Hook NWR is the 6th most valuable refuge in the U.S. contributed $20.2 million to the economy from food, lodging, equipment, transportation expenditures ($13.4 million bird watching) and supported 198 jobs with $5.5 million in annual income.

State Park Attendance Visitors Spending ($) % Spending Rank Delaware Seashore S.P. 1,055,759 588,906 $172,984,023 44.4% 1 1,276,040 591,141 $128,481,875 33.0% 2 Fenwick Island State Park 232,832 115,909 $60,032,326 15.4% 3 316,253 71,726 $7,323,283 1.9% 4 260,959 93,698 $6,548,569 1.7% 5 Bellevue State Park 351,235 30,230 $4,236,074 1.1% 6 116,626 51,050 $3,512,408 0.9% 7 State Park 175,076 15,068 $2,111,508 0.5% 8 Brandywine Creek State Park 129,006 11,103 $1,555,877 0.4% 9 109,229 9,401 $1,317,356 0.3% 10 Brandywine Zoo 97,686 8,408 $1,178,060 0.3% 11 First State Heritage Park, 18,878 1,625 $227,662 0.1% 12 Dover State Park 14,128 1,216 $170,379 0.0% 13 8,592 739 $103,621 0.0% 14 Fort DuPont State Park 5,485 472 $66,148 0.0% 15 Auburn Heights Preserve 3,188 274 $38,443 0.0% 16 All State Parks 4,170,969 1,590,967 $389,887,614 Fish/Wildlife

Recreation Value1 Participants Activity ($2011 million) Fishing $104.4 166,000 anglers Trip‐related $48.7 Equipment/Other $55.6 Hunting $40.8 23,000 hunters Trip‐related $5.4 Equipment/Other $35.3 Wildlife/Birding $169.8 243,000 viewers Trip‐related $36.1 Equipment/Other $133.7 Total $315.0

Value of commercial fish harvests in Delaware (NMFS and NOEP 2007) Pounds Landed Value Landed Value Species (2007) (2007 dollars) 2 (2010 dollars) 2 Blue Crab 3,799,820 $5,329,182 $5,823,341 Eastern Oyster 79,933 $490,465 $535,944 Knobbed Whelk 260,078 $456,368 $498,686 Striped Bass 188,671 $429,994 $469,866 American Eel 139,648 $315,094 $344,312 Black Sea Bass 72,675 $200,902 $219,531 Northern Quahog Clam 44,618 $181,350 $198,166 Spot 128,209 $99,995 $109,267 Shellfish 30,130 $76,119 $83,177 Channeled Whelk 17,139 $54,804 $59,886 Horseshoe Crab 229,602 $48,978 $53,520 White Perch 55,973 $46,865 $51,211 American Shad 71,445 $42,408 $46,340 Weakfish 24,604 $36,177 $39,532 Total 5,327,115 $7,894,099 $8,626,096 Recreation

Outdoor Economic Paddling Recreation Activity Delaware2 Delaware1

Consumer Spending $3.1 billion $124 million

Participants 467,000 18,680

Jobs 29,000 1,160

Wages $959 million $38.4 million Forests Forested Wetlands Benefits New Castle County1 In Delaware2 Environmental Economic Environme Economic (tons/acre) ($/acre) ntal (tons) ($) Carbon Storage 40.00 $827 3,072,000 63,513,600 Carbon 1.40 $29 107,520 2,227,200 Sequestration Air Pollution 0.04 $266 3,072 20,428,800 Control Energy Savings $56 0 4,300,800 Avoided Carbon 0.14 $3 10,752 230,400 Emissions 1. Nowak et al. 2008. 2. Computed for 76,800 acres of forested wetlands in Delaware Nonuse Value

Willingness to Pay: Delaware residents are willing to pay between $16 to $84 million per year in increased taxes and fees for wetland protection and management programs on 320,000 wetland acres where 25% are tidal (Santoni, Arvay, and Scarborough 2017). Ecosystem Goods and Services

Range of Ecosystem Services Value Estimates Barnegat Bay Watershed 10

8 6.0 6

4

$ billion/yr 2.3 2 1.4

0

Low JDEP High N Present value of wetland ecosystem services in Delaware

PV NPV Range ($B) ($B)

Low 1.6 51.2

Mid‐range (NJDEP 3.0 98.8

High 9.9 321.2 Area $/acre/yea Ecosystem PV ($/yr) NPV ($) (acres) r Low Range 297,885 1,575,236,043 51,195,171,401 Freshwater 178,632 6,268 1,119,662,818 36,389,041,588 wetlands Saltwater wetland 71,001 6,269 445,102,324 14,465,825,530 Open water 48,253 217 10,470,901 340,304,283

Mid Range (NJDEP) 297,885 10,208 3,040,663,834 98,821,574,614 Freshwater 178,632 13,621 2,433,081,000 79,075,132,489 wetlands Saltwater wetland 71,001 7,235 513,691,702 16,694,980,313 Open water 48,253 1,946 93,891,133 3,051,461,812

High Range 297,885 9,883,256,574 321,205,838,669 Freshwater 178,632 43,685 7,803,521,093 253,614,435,509 wetlands Saltwater wetland 71,001 28,146 1,998,380,924 64,947,380,025 Open water 48,253 1,686 81,354,558 2,644,023,135 Table 19. Jobs and wages directly and indirectly related to Delaware wetlands Wages Sector Jobs Data Source ($M) Living Marine National Coastal Economics 442 10 Resources Program (2009) Tourism & National Coastal Economics 12,997 188 Recreation Program (2009) Fishing/Hunting/Bi U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 9,591 315 rding (2008) National Wildlife 200 6 Carver and Caudill (2007) Refuges Outdoor Industry Association Outdoor Recreation 1,160 38 (2016) Wetland 115 6 Organizations NOAA Coastal Services Center Wetlands 496 5 (2011) $568 Delaware Wetlands 25,000 million Coastal employment, wages, and GDP related to wetlands in Delaware

Wages GDP Sector Employment ($ million) ($ million)

Living Marine 442 10.3 19.2 Resources

Tourism & Recreation 12,997 188.5 373.9

Delaware wetlands 13,439 198.8 393.1 Table 21. Jobs from fishing, hunting, and wildlife recreation in Delaware wetlands 1. USFWS 2014. 2. Jobs based on $32,843 average salary.

Economic Delaware Recreation 1 Activity Recreation Activity ($2011 million) Jobs2 Fishing $104.4 3,179 Trip‐Related $48.7 Equipment/other $55.6 Hunting $40.8 1,242 Trip‐Related $5.4 Equipment/other $35.3 Wildlife/Birding $169.8 5,170 Trip‐Related $36.1 Equipment/other $133.7 Total $315.0 9,591 National Wildlife Refuge

The Bombay Hook and Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuges (NWR) on the Delaware Bay marshes contributed over $21 million to the Delaware economy from 390,000 annual visitors and supported over 200 jobs with $6 million in wages (Carver and Caudill 2007).

Outdoor Recreation

The Outdoor Industry Association (2016) concluded 467,000 people in Delaware participated in recreation activities such as bicycling, camping, fishing, hunting, paddling, hiking, and wildlife viewing that supported 29,000 jobs with $959 million in wages to the regional economy. If paddling related to wetlands and marshes in Delaware is 4% of the outdoor recreation economy, then paddling (by 18,680 paddlers) supported 1,160 jobs with $38 million in wages.

Wetland Organization Jobs

More than 20 nonprofit watershed and environmental organizations employ at least 115 staff to work on programs to protect the land and waters that flow into Delaware wetlands (Table 22). Assuming that the average salary is $48,000/person working in a wetland-organization job in Delaware, these jobs account for $5.5 million in annual wages. Wetland Jobs (NOAA CSC 2011)

Self Wetland Wetland Business Employed County Area Area Jobs Output Revenue (ac) (%) ($) ($)

New Castle 37,568 13% 191 $1,500,000 $4,300,000

Kent 91,974 24% 176 $443,000 $2,000,000 Sussex 128,926 21% 129 $3,100,000 $3,100,000 State 258,468 21% 496 $5,043,000 $9,400,000 Freshwater and saltwater wetlands in Delaware contribute:

1. >$1 billion in annual economic value from water quality, flood control, parks/open space, fish/wildlife, recreation, forest/carbon storage, and nonuse value (willingness to pay) functions. .

2. Ecosystem goods and services worth $3 billion per year, net present value (NPV) = $99 billion.

 3. 25,000 jobs with $568 million in wages in the marine resources, tourism/recreation, fishing/hunting/birding, and wetland organization sectors.